Highland Telephone Cooperative Has New General Manager

Hi, my name is Evan Kimble. I’m from the Highland Mid-Kids Radio Club. Today I will be interviewing Chad Kimble from the Highland Telephone Company as the General Manager.

Mr. Kimble, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

“My name is Chad, I live in Blue Grass, Virginia. I’ve lived in Blue Grass my whole life.  I live there with my wife and two kids, Evan and John. And Emily is in school right now, she’s about to graduate from Rockingham Radiology School. I enjoy living in the county and certainly love the surroundings.”

When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?

“Well, that’s a good question. I did not see myself in the communications world. When I was a teenager in school, I had a focus on a welding career and done that for about four years. And could see that the traveling was a little bit more than I was wanting to do and really, really wanted to be back in the county, so started looking for things in the county and was fortunate enough to get a job with the Highland Telephone Cooperative. And it’s been history since.”

When did you become the general manager?

“I’ve been with the company for around right at 20 years now. And I became General Manager of the Highland Telephone Cooperative in January of 2020. I have been the plant manager since 2014. And moved into the position in January.”

What made you want to be General Manager?

“Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen the Cooperative go through quite a bit of changes and have certainly been interested in all the changes that it’s had to face. And with the changing of technologies that’s come about, starting off with the dial-up, moving from the dial-up into the DSL services through copper, and from that moving into the fiber optic fed networks, it’s been a tremendous change and I certainly wanted to make myself a part of that change going forward, providing a quality service to our customers.”

What do you see for the future of the Highland Telephone Company?

“The future of Highland Telephone Cooperative is certainly laid out to becoming an internet service provider and being able to provide the latest in technology and provide a service that’s second to none. Highland Telephone has certainly been recognized over the years for its unbeatable service to our customers, and going forward, that’s where I see the Cooperative heading. We want to provide the best service we can with the latest technology, and keep everybody up to date, and provide a wonderful service for our customers.”

Thank you for being here. Mr. Kimble. Highland Telephone Cooperative is a supporter of Allegheny Mountain Radio.

This has been the Highland Mid-Kids Radio Club for Allegheny Mountain Radio.